Canoeing/Kayaking Nebraska's Rivers.

HSKR

HSKR

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I'm about as big of a land lover as one can get but a few years back I had a chance to kayak the Dismal and had an absolute blast. Since then I have done the Dismal about five times. Honestly, I couldn't think anything I'd rather do in Nebraska then hit the Dismal again when it comes to outdoors opportunities. I will say you do need to be somewhat skilled and able bodied when it comes to this river. Otherwise you will find yourself trying to pull your kayak out from under a cedar tree hanging over the river. It is nothing like the easy float on a tube like the Niobrara. I read once that like only 500 or so people even do the Dismal in a year. I know someone who has done the Republican and it sounds ok, but not great. I talked to someone that did the Calamus and said it was horrible. Too shallow and winding. I saw a video on youtube that showed people Kayaking the upper portions of the Snake but I couldn't find any information on where you start or finish. I'd be real interested in trying it from the what that video showed.

So, just wondering if anyone else has some has some experiences or tips on what rivers are good in Nebraska.

This isn't mine but I thought it was a good video posted about the Dismal....


 
That looks awesome. My canoeing in Nebraska has been limited to the Niobrara, Elkhorn, Logan, and Bell.

I think we might have to give the Dismal a try this summer.

 
Three of us went down the Dismal quite few years ago. One in a kayak and two in a canoe. Originally, we thought it'd be a lot like the Niobrara, so we brought along a bunch of beer for a lazy float down the river, OH how wrong we were. The guy in the kayak actually ended up running point for the canoers, advising on upcoming turns and troubles along the banks. It was a great trip, but a whole lot harder than we anticipated. The area with the big spring was awesome. We stayed there about an hour, just jumping in and hanging out in the spring and you are correct, that water is cold.

 
CornHunka said:
Three of us went down the Dismal quite few years ago. One in a kayak and two in a canoe. Originally, we thought it'd be a lot like the Niobrara, so we brought along a bunch of beer for a lazy float down the river, OH how wrong we were. The guy in the kayak actually ended up running point for the canoers, advising on upcoming turns and troubles along the banks. It was a great trip, but a whole lot harder than we anticipated. The area with the big spring was awesome. We stayed there about an hour, just jumping in and hanging out in the spring and you are correct, that water is cold.
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Canoe's seem to navigate through the shallow water/sandbars a little better then the Kayak's but they are complete hell in the tight areas with all the trees. It's funny you mention beer because almost every bad story we heard from others while up there always seemed to involve a little too much alcohol, lol. In fact, the last trip we took, a group that set off from the Seneca bridge to the Jameson Ranch bridge (the second leg of the trip if you make it a two dayer) tipped one of their canoes and got it caught under a fallen cedar in a fast moving part of the river and could not pull it out due to the current. They ended up using some ratchet straps they had along for the beer cooler in the canoe to slowly ratchet it out from under the tree. By the time they got it out and got to the Jameson Ranch Bridge, nine hours had passed for a trip that usually takes you three and half at best.

IMO, the difficulty is the best part of the river because unlike the Niobrara, it keeps the lazy party floater crowd away or at a minimum they only come once, lol. Besides a very few bridges and fences, I love the Dismal because it hasn't changed since before the time we settled the state. It could be 2012 or 1812 and you couldn't tell the difference.

 
If you guys like kayaking or canoeing I'd really recommend doing a Boundary Waters trip. There are a lot of routes you can do that are heavy on river travel with many sets of rapids and even some falls here and there. It's truly an adventure. It's also a pretty cheap vacation if you have some of your own gear and the scenery is second to none. I'm going to try to do a short trip up there this fall with one of my buddies from Lincoln. If you're interested in more info PM me as I've done a lot of research on different routes. The 3 videos below are all places that I've been to. There's nothing like falling asleep while listening to the wolves howling at night.


 
Talked to someone familiar with the Republican River and supposedly they have done a lot of work cleaning out trees and weeds and getting rid of a lot of the sandbars so the river can flow better, thus the river should be better for canoeing, although he hasn't tried it himself. I guess it's part of the deal to get the more of the water to Kansas with less loss in Nebraska since Kansas is crying we are taking all the water.

 
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